gave Erin. Maybe they were both involved in what was happening. Hadn’t she mentioned needing money for her future?
Too many questions, not enough answers. He intended to fix that—and soon.
Chapter Five
As Preston gave him the news, Bruce, now standing, swayed slightly then caught himself. “Murdered? That can’t be...” he said, shaking his head.
Preston gave him the details.
Bruce clamped his mouth shut so tightly, his lips turned pale. “This has something to do with you, doesn’t it,” he said, glaring at Erin. “My brother trusted you, but you’re still alive and he’s dead?” He stared at her, as if trying to process the unthinkable. “What kind of trouble did you get him into?”
“I had nothing to do with what happened to your brother,” she snapped.
He gave her a disgusted look, then glanced at Preston and Kyle. “Look at her, she’s beautiful. Erin had my brother under her thumb. Hank was a good man. Nobody would want to hurt him,” he argued. “Not so much with Erin. She’s the one who decides who gets a raise and who doesn’t, she hires and fires. If anyone has enemies, it’s her.”
Kyle watched them with interest. As the two of them finally lapsed into an uneasy silence, he spoke. “You had that much influence at the company, Erin?”
“There’s no way my job had anything to do with what happened!” she said, glaring at Bruce. “This was never about me,” she added, appealing to Kyle, then Preston. “I told you, their attention was on Hank this morning. I just...got in the way.”
“And made things worse, no doubt,” Bruce said. “What’d you do, piss them off even more?”
“You think Ms. Barrett was involved?” Preston asked. “If so, what’s your explanation for the second kidnapping attempt, the one where your brother’s ambulance was ambushed on the way to the hospital?”
Bruce tried to sit, but his legs suddenly buckled and he fell down onto the sofa cushions with a dull whomp. “I don’t know. Finish the job they started?
“You’re a federal cop,” Bruce continued after a beat, looking at Kyle. “My brother just came home after spending two months in Spain. What are you really, CIA?”
“No, I’m not CIA,” Kyle answered. “That agency has no directive to work within the U.S.”
“So then you’re FBI or Homeland Security.”
“I’m a federal agent investigating some business irregularities that track back to your brother, among other things,” Kyle said. Bruce seemed to accept his answer, but as he glanced at Erin, he could see the open skepticism on her face.
“Agent Goodluck is currently coordinating his investigation with the Hartley Police Department,” Preston added.
“So now what?” Bruce said. “Am I under arrest?”
“You’re free to leave—after you give your statement,” Kyle said. “In addition to explaining what you were doing here, we’ll need you to account for your whereabouts during the past twenty-four hours.”
“What about me?” Erin said. “Am I free to go?”
“No, sorry. I’ll need you to stick with me a while longer,” Kyle said.
As Bruce left the room with the uniformed officer, Erin shook her head. “Hank was nothing like his brother,” she said, “but in all fairness, I seem to bring out the worst in Bruce.”
“Why’s that?” Kyle asked.
“Hank set it up so Bruce had to go through me to get to him. Bruce couldn’t con me, so my job was to screen his visits and keep him at bay unless it was absolutely necessary that Hank speak to him.”
“Okay, have a seat. I’ll be right back.” Kyle went to the back room where Preston was looking around. Standing in the hall so he could keep his eye on Erin, he spoke softly. “NCIS obtained a warrant and placed some listening devices in this house. A team took care of that a few days before I arrived in town.”
“Have you listened to the audio?”
“No, not yet, but others in the agency have,” he said, “I’m going to check with my bosses right now, so I’d like you to keep an eye on Erin for me.”
Kyle went outside and pulled out his satellite phone from his jacket pocket. A few moments later, he got the answer he expected, but before he could end the call, his supervisor, Martin Hamilton, got on. He wasn’t happy.
“All I’ve heard is bad news. What have you got so far, Agent Goodluck?”
He gave his boss the short version. “I’m on the trail, sir, but I’ve been back less than twenty-four hours.”
“Yet you’ve already got three bodies stacked up, including a naval reserve officer who was clearly in trouble up to his ass,” he said. “We need answers.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll be in touch.” Kyle muttered a curse as he went back into the house.
As he entered, Preston was shaking his head. “There’s nothing of interest here, except an expensive strand of pearls, a present meant for Frieda Martinez, based on the attached card.”
“Frieda mentioned wanting a strand and he decided to buy it for her, though personally I thought it was much too soon for that kind of gift,” Erin said, coming over.
“I’m getting the idea you didn’t like Frieda,” Kyle observed.
“No, it’s not that. Like Hank, I barely knew her.” She paused, then continued. “There’s something you should know about Hank. Business was good, and for the first time in years, Hank was bored and restless. Then he met Frieda and his whole attitude changed. He was crazy about her, but as I said, they’d only known each other for a few weeks.”
Kyle listened carefully. To him, Hank was beginning to sound like a man going through a midlife crisis and looking for excitement. Maybe that’s how he’d been recruited. Money wasn’t always the motivator.
“Did you ever meet Frieda face-to-face?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, a few times when she came to the office to meet Hank for lunch,” Erin answered.
“And?” Kyle pressed.
“She was polite to me, but not friendly.”
“Any chance she’s from Spain?”
“I don’t know. She has a faint accent, something I associate with English as a second language, but that’s all I can say for sure.”
“Preston, get an address on her, then let’s go talk to her,” Kyle said and saw his brother nod. “Erin, I’d like you to come in with us, too. Seeing a familiar face, one Hank trusted, might help.”
“Okay.”
Kyle led
